FET February 2024

[kirstysmbc]

Hi, just thought I'd see if there was anyone else doing a FET cycle in February that is looking for a cycle buddy?

I'm due to start meds at the end of this month, hopefully with transfer mid Feb. This will be my first donor embryo cycle after final attempts with my own eggs failed last year.

@seekingbabyk yes we've basically upped our fruit and veg intake, 2 portions of oily fish a week, one red meat, the rest is chicken/white fish/eggs. Low carbs, nothing with preservatives or seed oils in, no sweeteners and no caffeine or alcohol. We're not using plastic stuff in the kitchen but still do use airfryer/pans with nonstick coating occasionally so we probably need to cut that down.

I'm sorry your consultant said that to you, surely it is always your choice and they could have asked you about your intentions before giving an opinion on it?!

I hope that taking a few months to go all in on a good diet etc. makes all the difference for you next time!

@GCS34 your scan outcome sounds like you're in a good place! Hopefully the cyst doesn't cause any issues and the best lining is what makes the difference for you this time.

@seekingbabyk That's so bad that he just threw the donor option at you at this stage. You're only 2 rounds in right? That seems a bit harsh. What did you say aside from 'I'm sorry....what?!' I think you've made a good decision to do another round with your own eggs. I think they have a duty of care to say stuff like that when they're not getting the results, I think sometimes they just jump to that option ahead of when needed.

A lot has to do with egg quality - I've been helping a friend with this problem at the moment after finding out her fertilisation rate was low, and with PCOS, I know that I have an egg quality issue, and they've told me that certain drugs are better for getting better quality. Menopur is meant to be good for it so maybe discuss this as part of your planning appointment? Just an idea?

RE the scan, it wasn't all that brill yesterday. The cyst had grown a little - only gone up by 1mm, but it had still grown, however my lining hadn't really done a great deal. It had gone from 4.7mm to 5.7mm, and their was some fluid in the cavity too 🙄Story of my life. They've kept me going over the weekend, and added in estrogen patches, and rescan Monday. We've said that if it's not 7mm+ by Monday, and the fluid is increasing, then we're abandoning this round, go to rome, enjoy that (and have lots of pinot!) and let my body calm down and go again next month.

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday I'm in a similar situation as you - our last funded transfer runs out at this one coming up, so after that is £££ time! I've requested our clinics costing via Access Fertility, and it's £9,200 for 2 cycles, plus drugs.

Have you got any further with your hunt for a clinic? Have you used the HFEA clinic finder? It lets you look at success rates, patient feedback, and measures against the industry average so you can see where it fairs up. I'm sure you have but link below if you haven't x https://www.hfea.gov.uk/choose-a-clinic/clinic-search/

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday
i’ve been just trying to eat healthy in general, but actually I’ve been feeling a total loss of appetite, and weird food aversions to anything super aromatic - very strange. My plan was to do this sort of Mediterranean diet but with my aversions it’s now simplified to, whatever my body will let me eat.

my treatment due to my age (41), was not funded at all- a percentage the meds are covered but it ends up being super expensive and like 1/2 of my savings - adds a lot of stress

thanks for your encouraging words. last night i had a drop of blood on the toilet paper after peeing, (first time ever having spotting during pregnancy) - and as i’m 6 weeks it is of course not implantation bleeding, so my google spiral took a little trip this morning and last night. i’m just really looking forward to the first scan to hopefully have some reassurance

@GCS34
sorry to hear your cyst grew a little and the the lining isn’t developing as quickly as you’d hoped. crossing all available fingers and toes that both show better results on Monday
-------
-anybody else experience very light spotting around 6 weeks ?

Hi @kaydevo7777 - yes, definitely re spotting. I had it with both pregnancies. Fertility doc told me it's due to the embryo burrowing into the lining so no need to worry, or due to your cervix getting irritated. I hope that's helpful.

@muddlingthrou just to clarify - isn't the embryo burrowing into the lining implantation and therefore your spotting was implantation bleeding? i was concerned as i didn't think implantation bleeding was possible at 6 weeks (i'm 6 weeks and 1 day)

@kaydevo7777 - those were her exact words. They are burned onto my memory as I was freaking out!

But either way, I can see in my pregnancy app that with my daughter I spotted at 6 weeks (and 8 weeks 3 days, incidentally).

Do you have any symptoms - nausea/sore boobs/weird taste in your mouth etc?

@kaydevo7777 sorry to hear you’ve had some spotting but I can offer some reassurance..

I had an early scan last Wednesday (5w and 5days) as had some spotting and they couldn’t be sure that the pregnancy was viable because it wasn’t clear.. on the Friday I had a massive bleed and both myself and my clinic were sure that I had miscarried. I stopped all my meds and they said to just wait for my period..

I then called yesterday as my period hadn’t arrived, they invited me in for a scan today and lo and behold there’s a small beating heart measuring exactly 7w and 1day..

My mind is absolutely all over the place.. apparently they are hiding right up high..

Only had 1 embryo transferred and no signs of twins at the first scan so they have no idea what happened..

Now back to being very careful and anxious 🤣

I hope yours settles soon and you have a wonderful scan..

@GCS34 aww sorry your lining update wasn't so good today. Will keep fingers crossed for you that Monday's is more positive. Yes we did look at HFEA ratings, but thanks for the tip! The clinic we're hoping to use is Manchester Fertility and I think we can get 3 rounds with 100% refund if no success for around 12k (plus drugs) via Access.

@kaydevo7777 aww that's a shame that your age affected funding. I think there are similar restrictions in NHS funding here too but I'm early 30s so it wasn't a factor for me thankfully. The financial side of it brings so much stress to an already difficult situation. I'm sorry I don't have any experience of bleeding in pregnancy, but I did read the other day that bleeding is more common in IVF pregnancies so it is a fairly normal thing. Hopefully it's just that small amount. I guess initial implantation bleeding is one thing, but maybe as the embryo grows and placenta starts to grow it spreads out and implants more?

@Staryskylark what a scary time for you, so pleased little embryo managed to hang on in there! I hope this isn't an insensitive question, but have they given you any advice re the likely impact of stopping meds? Or is 6 weeks the stage you'd have expected to come off them anyway?

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday No they haven’t said, although it’s managed a week without so hopefully 🙏 it’ll still be okay..

Got another scan in 10days which will be nearly 9 weeks so hopefully I’ll feel a bit happier then x

@muddlingthrou that's reassuring to know you had light spotting at 6 weeks and then 8 weeks. whenever i google this i just get the 2ww implantation spotting information.My other symptoms are a very light nausea (no vomiting) that starts in the morning and subsides by the afternoon, and foggy brain/desire to sleep.
@Staryskylark oh wow... what a huge rollercoaster you've been on. So when you went in for that early scan they didn't see anything? because they were hiding up high? "Only had 1 embryo transferred and no signs of twins at the first scan so they have no idea what happened.." - not sure what you mean by this last sentence..- in any case I'm so glad to hear the beautiful news from your second scan <3 sending you lots of love and courage
@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday that's interesting to know that it's more common with IVF. currently it was just a couple drops, but as i had none before during implantation, it sort of shook me.

@kaydevo7777 - on the first scan they could see the embryo sac and yolk but couldn’t see anything very clearly inside the sac.. so we were prepared that it might not be viable..

So it’s been an absolute rollercoaster..

When is your scan?

@GCS34 I hope your lining improves for you.. sending you lots of positive thoughts..

@kaydevo7777 I had spotting at 6 weeks and 8 weeks in my pregnancy with my son and all turned out fine. I know how terrifying it is but it’s quite common. I’ve been incessantly googling symptoms since I got my BFP as I’ve been having quite a lot of cramping - and spotting comes up a lot. I hope you manage to relax as much as possible 😊 (coming from a very anxious Annie)

@GCS34 I'm sorry you are having a few issues with the scans like lining and cyst. Fingers crossed for tomorrow but at least you have a plan and you're not wasting any Frosties! Yes I think it's a duty of care thing but we have always said we wouldn't use donor eggs or embryos, I think we would rather adopt but would probably just embrace the no kids life if we couldn't have our own. We umm'd and ahhh'd anyway about going for kids because we love our lives of travelling, etc so whilst we would rather have them, we know we'll be fine without. I think he maybe forgot that we didn't do another round after cutting drinking right down, supplements, etc so hopefully we will get better results next round 🤞🏻

Oh I'm so sorry you went through all that @Staryskylark - what an absolute rollercoaster for you! Are you restating the meds now then? Or are they happy for you to carry on without?

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday they sound like really sensible changes to your lifestyle. When is your next round starting? Are you taking any supplements like ubiquinol or methylfolate?

@kaydevo7777 im sorry you've had some spotting but I don't think I've seen one successful pregnancy on any of the threads without some bleeding to be honest so it seems really normal! Some women have had really heavy bleeding too. Hopefully that's the end of it for you now :)

@Staryskylark that must have been so scary - that's mainly what my anxiety is about - when they do the scan, what if they don't detect a heartbeat, see clearly inside the sac.. ? i'm sure you're so excited for your 9 week scan. my scan is this coming tuesday. looking forward to seeing what's going on
@ivfjourney2023 that's so reassuring to read. no spotting since that one time which was a couple days past 6 weeks. i'm trying to remain relaxed and not analyze every feeling, but man it's hard
@seekingbabyk thank you for saying that - i'm feeling a lot more reassured due to this forum <3

Thank you for your lovely support and comments..

My anxiety is through the roof at the moment and every little thing I am over thinking but hoping that relaxes after my scan next Monday.. 🤦🏻‍♀️ The hardest thing is that I had told work about being pregnant (due to need a risk assessment, I teach complex children with Autism and ADHD) then told them I no longer need it and now I have to go in tomorrow and say oh yeah.. I actually need it again 🤦🏻‍♀️😬

@kaydevo7777 - I am sending lots of positive thoughts for Tuesdays scan. How far along will you be then?

and thank you @seekingbabyk - They can’t be sure if being without medication has any effect but I have now restarted it..

I just have to keep thinking that it must have been pretty strong to hang on in there with no medication and a week where I wasn’t very careful at all..

We all really do put ourselves through it with this IVF business and I think you are all amazing and strong ladies..

@Staryskylark yes you definitely have a little fighter in there! Don't be hard on yourself I think we all would have gone home a poured a drink, or something else you couldn't previously do in that situation. Wow that conversation with your work it's going to be interesting - I'm sure they'll be happy how it turned out though! What date is your scan?

@GCS34 - how did you get in today with your scan?x

@seekingbabyk yeah it's good to have your red lines of where you say 'no'. Some people it's donor, some people it's after 2 rounds, some people is a baby - whatever that takes. That's good that you would be comfortable with no children if that's what it came down to, that's a really good place to be in mentally I think. You're not putting too much pressure on yourselves then, and also shows how strong you and your partners relationship is 💛I'm confident that with the lifestyle changes you made, you'll get another good shot at this. How many did you get from the last round if you don't mind me asking? And remind me - was that your first or second?

RE my scan, unfortunately my lining hadn't thickened to where we wanted, so we took the executive decision between my husband, my consultant and I, to abandon, have a period and go off the back of this period that should come Tuesday / Wednesday next week, so not long to wait really! They're using this as an estrogen priming cycles, which they often do with low ovarian reserve patients and those with thin linings, to build your base estrogen up then go off the next one. They're also putting me on Pentoxyphyline as of my period next week too, which helps with blood flow and when combined with Vit E, helps endometrial thickness too so i'm really pleased they've made some changes and we'll see what happens next!

@Staryskylark thank you for your positive thoughts <3 my scan today was at week 6 + 6 days and it went well. Of our 2 fet, we have one healthy embryo that implanted, got to see it for the first time, and even heard a heartbeat. despite all the scary symptoms, it seems to be where it needs to be, so i feel reassured.
Sending you all the positive vibes your way for your upcoming scan <3
@GCS34 i'm sorry to hear that this round was abandoned, but it seems like entering the next round is super positive - you don't have to wait too long (if i understand correctly), and the clinic is responding to your needs more and making changes to respond to recurrent lining issues. Hope you're feeling positive <3

@GCS34 oh no I'm sorry it's been abandoned but it sounds like they are trying to give you the best chance possible which is reassuring! When is your time trip? I'm guessing still no Pinot!

This will be our 4th round. The first we got one blast, second two and last round none. The last one we had quite a few factors - they massively upped my stims dose so I ended up with lots of smaller follicles, also I was taking DHEA which really didn't agree with me, and lastly I'm ashamed to say we were in Paris 3 days before starting that round and it was pretty boozy and full of naughty food as we didn't know the effect of all of that then. As long as I'm happy to keep going and we can afford it we will keep going. I don't really want what ifs later in life. But this next round with lifestyle changes, supplements, etc if we still get 0-1 blast I think we'll call it a day. Hopefully we will have another two as we are copying that round but better quality 🤞🏻

@kaydevo7777 - That’s great news about your scan. I’m really pleased for you.

Sorry to hear about your cancelled cycle @GCS34. Hoping that your next try is the one for you. 🙏

@seekingbabyk I've not tried ubiquinol (Ill google it!) but there is methylfolate in my myoinositol supplements as I read some people absorb that better than folic acid. Hope you're finding all the lifestyle changes okay so far, I keep getting sugar cravings but am managing to resist temptation so far (I do allow myself a few Naked bars a week as they're all natural sugars and the cherry bakewell tastes like Christmas cake and marzipan!) We will aim for another egg collection in May, could end up being June depending on how quickly we can get everything lined up with the new clinic though.

@kaydevo7777 I didn't manage to get online yesterday but was thinking about you and hoping for good news, I am so glad all went well at your scan. Will your next scan be at 12 weeks now? I hope this lifts some of the anxiety for you, although I'm sure each milestone still brings a bit of worry about what lies ahead.

@GCS34 I'm sorry you had to abandon this cycle, but your clinic sounds really good at changing things up to try and get better results each time which is a huge positive. Fingers crossed you have a better result with your lining on the next round.

@Staryskylark yes, i was really happy to see/hear a heartbeat. so our fertility clinic "released" us now, so that sole scan was our last activity included in our package with them i guess - so now i'm scurrying around trying to find an OB or a midwife to i can have some sort of follow up. i've had absence of nausea these past 2 days when they were kind of constant (but light) before, so I can't tell if i should be worried, or if i've just gotten better at avoiding my triggers. when is your next scan?
@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday
thank you, as i wrote above, i'm trying to schedule a follow up now just to keep a somewhat frequent check in
:) - that's great that your next egg collection can be as soon as may.
I took ubiquinol (or coq10) in the months preceding my IVF. I was highly suggested it from several sources to help with my egg health.

Hi everyone, just catching up after quite a long time offline... Thanks so much for your holiday greetings, we had a fabulous time and I think it's just what I needed after the failed attempt!

@biscuitsndtea I'm so, so sorry things went as they did, that's heartbreaking. I hope you've taken some time to yourself and are doing as best you can in that situation xxx

@kaydevo7777 I'm so pleased that things kept progressing well for you and congrats on hearing the heartbeat and having graduated from the clinic - that's amazing news! I hope you've sorted out some follow up for reassurance, but hopefully it's just the nausea subsiding and nothing to worry about xxx

@Staryskylark oh wow that's quite the rollercoaster and quite a little fighter you've got there! I hope your last scan went well and everything has settled down for you ❤

@IWouldRatherBeOnHoliday well done you for resisting temptation! I've been trying to stay off the sugar since I got back and I think I've picked up and put back a chocolate bar at least 3 times today... the struggle is real 🤦🏻‍♀️ how was the open day at the clinic?

@seekingbabyk I'm sorry your doctor was so insensitive and I'm wishing you all the best with this next round - the last round must have been incredibly tough and I admire your determination to keep going and try harder, as well as you and your partner's happiness with your lives together even if eventually it doesn't work (obviously hoping that it will!) . Obviously you can never tell, but I believe lifestyle changes do help 💪🏼

@GCS34 I'm so sorry you had to abandon the last cycle, that must have been so frustrating after all the back-and-forth, but did I understand correctly that you just started a cycle and are going immediately? Sounds like you've got a good plan and I've got everything crossed that the changes wil help, and that your trip to Rome will help on the mindset side too 🤩 buon viaggio!! xxx

@muddlingthrou I hope all is still well with you!

My follow-up/planning appointment is Thursday and I'm really hoping they let us go immediately with a natural FET on my cycle that started last weekend... probably too optimistic especially with the long weekend, but I feel like I'm in a really good mental place after the holiday and I'd rather jump into it half prepared than let the FET anxiety build up 😅